Education

TALLAHASSE (CBSMiami) – It’s the first full day of summer vacation, but students are still learning how they fared on the most talked-about test of the year, the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test, or the FCAT.

Statewide scores released today show modest year-to-year improvements across Florida, and in both Broward and Miami-Dade Counties.

“For the first time, in a number of grades, our performance was actually greater than the state as a whole,” Miami-Dade Schools Superintendent Alberto Carvalho said.

In Miami-Dade, the most notable gains were made in reading, where students in grades 3-5 saw a 3% uptick in passing scores compared to 2013. 60% of students in this category achieved a satisfactory score.

The same age group in Miami-Dade also saw a 2% increase in passing math scores, but a 1% drop in reading for students in 9th and 10th grades.

“There are some who are mired in small fluctuations in data, but this is not a game that is gauged on the basis of just one single year of performance. It cannot be,” Carvalho explained.

In Broward, elementary students performed slightly better this year in reading, with satisfactory scores improving by 1% with 59% of kids passing.

“Broward continues to make steady improvements across all three grade areas,” Superintendent Robert Runcie said in a conference call.

Scores held steady in Grades 3-5 mathematics and Grade 5 science.

The passing percentage increased by 1% in the 8th grade science assessment, but less than half of those Broward students (47%) scored 3 or higher.

While the results aren’t shocking on way or the other, Superintendent Robert Runcie says more work needs to be done.

“We know there are achievement gaps in public education. That’s nothing new,” Runcie said. “The takeaway as a parent is that the district has remained stable…. It’s not bad. But it’s not where we want to be.”

Up one percent from last year, 58% of third through eighth-grade students statewide passed the reading assessment.

Fifty-six percent of third through eighth-grade students, according to the results released Friday by the Department of Education, passed the math test which is the same as in 2013.

This year marks the last administration of the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test. Students will take a new exam aligned with the Common Core standards next year.

FCAT scores are key in determining what A-to-F letter grades are given to schools.